Such devices for distributing materials in bulk are for example used in installations for charging shaft furnaces, particularly blast furnaces, in which the rotary chute with a variable angle of inclination provides for the distribution of the charge inside the shaft furnace. It should be appreciated that, in such a device, the chute is an element subject to wear, which must be replaced from time to time. Hence the necessity of suspending the chute in an easily removable way in its suspension rotor while ensuring a reliable transmission of a large pivoting torque to the chute.
Devices for distributing materials in bulk with a rotary chute having a variable angle of inclination are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,403, U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,806 and patent application DE 3342572.
The chute in the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,403 is provided with lateral suspension journals. On one side it comprises two separated suspension journals, which are received in two separated housings of a suspension flange driven in rotation by the pivoting mechanism so that this suspension flange can transmit the pivoting torque to the chute. On the opposite side, it comprises a single suspension journal, which can rotate in a housing of a fixed flange. The journals are fixed in the two flanges by means of transverse wedges.
The chute in the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,806 is also provided with lateral suspension journals. On one side it comprises two separated suspension journals, which are received in a housing of a suspension flange driven in rotation by the pivoting mechanism, so that this suspension flange can transmit the pivoting torque to the chute. On the opposite side, it comprises a single journal, which is received in the housing of a flange free to rotate on a pivot.
The chute of the device described in the patent application DE 3342572 is provided with two suspension arms of special shape. Each of these suspension arms is received in the housing of a suspension flange driven in rotation by the pivoting mechanism. The shape of the suspension arm provides for the housing of the suspension flange to be locked while allowing the chute to be easily withdrawn after it is raised. The two suspension flanges transmit the pivoting torque to the chute.
The charging device described in the patent application FR 882167 comprises an oscillating charging tube, which is suspended by means of two long horizontal arms like a pendulum in a rotary cylinder. The extremities of the suspension arms are mounted on bearings in the rotary cylinder. One of these extremities carries an actuation lever. A knee-shaped control lever is fixed to the cylinder by means of a bearing. A first extremity of the control lever is connected by a connecting rod to an oscillation mechanism. A second extremity of the control lever bears a slide, which is guided in a closed runner of the activating lever. It is not described how to remove the charging tube.